A VIEW FROM WEST STAND LOWER


"And gentlemen in England now abed shall think themselves accursed they were not here"

Brighton and Hove Albion (3) 5
   Barnes 3 and 81
   Bridge 14
   Mackail-Smith 36 and 49

Barnsley (1) 1
   Davies 34(pen)

Attendance: 24,594

Thank you Jane and Joe!

Who are they you may ask? Well they are friends of ours from Ontario, Canada staying with us on a trip to Europe and when they announced they were staying for the weekend it created a crisis - the Seagulls were at home on Saturday! So my wife and I decided to give them an Amex experience. Neither had been to an English football (sorry soccer) game before.

The fantastic new East Stand

I bigged up the Albion making much of their second tier status and last season's giant killings of Premier League teams. I forget to mention the run of 11 games without a win, 5 of which were home, plus no goals in 3 attempts this season. Their seats were in the South Stand. Albion goals at the south end are about as rare as camels at the North Pole. I feared my beloved team would let me down when I wanted to most show them off.

I need not have worried as they swept a hapless Barnsley aside - truly the worse team to grace the hallowed Amex turf. David Gonzalez gave us the evidence that Gus was very wise not to sign him as he, first, dropped a Noone free kick when colliding with one of his own defenders for Barnes' opener and stood motionless as Bridge's firm strike from distance sailed past a few minutes later. 

The Ontario Branch of the Albion supporters club

And as if the boys knew Jane and Joe were in the South Stand we banged in 3 by half time. I am not sure we scored that many at that end all last season.

Barnsley were poor but you can only beat the team on the pitch in front of you. To their credit they tried to play football and some of their approach play was very attractive. The game must have ticked all Gus's boxes as the Albion had control for nearly all the 90 minutes, chances were created and converted, Mackail-Smith and Barnes got off the mark and they proved they can win without Vicente.

The big question is are we good enough to challenge for either promotion or the play offs this season? We should not be fooled by Saturday as Tuesday's game against Cardiff was a truer test of this season's challenges. 

Fantastic new South Stand banner

Despite scoring 5 we still need a striker to help Mackail-Smith and we need the creativity of Vicente to unlock stronger defences than Barnsley's. I have a niggling worry that Vicente is entering one of those periods of recurring minor injuries - I just hope I am wrong. 

Finally, a big thank you to Jane and Joe for bringing us good fortune - come back soon, our promotion challenge needs you.  




My personal man of the match - Ashley  Barnes - a Marmite player for some but he keeps going, covers every blade of grass and never hides.